


Looking for Love (In All the Right Places)

by regardinglove



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Bachelor AU, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Supernatural Writing Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 06:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6067846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regardinglove/pseuds/regardinglove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester is America’s first bisexual bachelor on the reality TV series ‘Looking for Love.’ He came to the show to form a relationship with one of the contestants, but he never anticipated falling for the blue-eyed host instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking for Love (In All the Right Places)

“And...action!”

Dean looks into the camera like he’s done a thousand times before. Gabriel, the director, grabs the question cards from his assistant and takes a seat just outside of the shot. He rummages through a few ones, muttering, “boring, boring,” and “who the hell put this one in the mix, assholes?” before settling on one that suits his needs.

“Deano, you’re down to your final two contestants. Do you think that you can see yourself married to either one of them?”

He follows the usual procedure and waits a few seconds before replying. “Of course,” he recites from memory, the words that the producers told him to say coming back easily, “Benny and I have bonded over the course of these past few months, and Jo is quite the catch. I’m considering gettin’ two rings just in case I can’t choose,” Dean replies with a coy wink.

The crew laughs lowly behind the cameras and Gabe throws the used question to the side. Everybody quiets down as they await Gabriel’s next cue, and Dean readjusts himself in his chair while prying the collar of his button-down away from his sweat-soaked neck. The lights are extra warm today, and the ninety degree temperatures of Costa Rica aren’t making this shoot any easier. He’s grateful when a PA throws him a water bottle.

“There’s been some controversy over you being the first bisexual bachelor on ‘Looking for Love.’ Any words to your haters, Deano?”

He crosses his arms over his chest and looks directly into the camera for this one. “Bite me,” he replies. “If anyone has a problem with bisexuals, they can take it up with me. I ain’t standing for bullying or any of those nasty comments on Twitter, period.”

“Good, good,” Gabe coos from the sidelines, and Dean takes a long gulp of his water as Gabriel tosses all of the questions aside and leans his elbows on his knees. “Let’s go unscripted for this one, okay? What’s up with you and our dreamy host, Castiel Novak?”

Dean nearly spits out his water, and a PA rushes over to whack him on the back. He growls at the boy- Garth, he remembers- and watches as he backs off with a muttered “Apologies, Mr. Winchester, I was just tryin’ to help is all.”

When Dean regains composure, he glares at Gabriel and replies, “What the hell, Novak? That wasn’t in the script!”

Gabriel throws him a Cheshire Cat grin and kicks his feet up on the box in front of him. “Aw, nobody goes off the script anymore, and this is _way_ more interesting. I’m sure our viewers would love to hear how you feel about my adorably awkward little bro, right everyone?”

Dean expects at least someone in the crew to object, but everyone conveniently turns away when he looks for support. Typical. He crosses his arms over his chest and lets out a long, overdone sigh. “What do you want to know, Gabe?”

“Funny you should ask!” Gabriel exclaims while gesturing for a PA with a magazine in her hands to come over. “I want to know how long you’ve been in love with him, because from what I’ve seen in the rag magazines, you two have gotten _quite_ close as of late.”

Dean’s blood runs cold, because he’s never told anyone about his true feelings for Cas. Hell, it was only a month ago that Dean finally came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t in love with Benny nor Jo, but instead only had eyes for the host of this damned reality show. And ever since Dean realized that he’s hopelessly in love with Cas, he’s been extra careful on set and off. At least, he thought he was being careful...

It isn’t until a PA drops the rag in Gabriel’s lap and he holds it up for all to see that he remembers the original cause for this panic. On the occasion that Dean and Cas do go out together, it’s always at run down bars where nobody with a camera can find them. He can’t recall a time when they were caught by a nosy pap, but the magazine that Gabe is displaying has a picture of Dean and Cas talking closely splashed across the front, and the title reads ‘Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places? America’s Golden Boy Caught with Host Castiel Novak!’

Dean plucks open the first two buttons of his shirt and tries to remember how to breathe properly. “How did they-”

“This picture is on every rag mag out there, Dean,” Gabriel says with no humor in his voice. “Clearly you weren’t as careful as you thought.” All the earlier teasing is gone as he pulls open the rag and shows him more pictures of him and Cas on the inside, these ones even more intimate than the cover photo. They show Dean leaning on Cas’s shoulder after a long night out, Cas brushing a lone piece of hair from Dean’s face. There is one in particular that gets Dean riled up, a candid shot of him and Cas dancing together outside the ‘Looking for Love’ mansion. They are snapshots of all the private moments they’ve have had together over these past five months of filming, and Dean feels like a complete idiot for thinking that they weren’t being trailed.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean whispers. He brings his fingers up to card through his hair and his eyes wheel around the room. Everyone is looking at him like he’s a kicked puppy, and it’s making his gut churn. “Look, Gabe-”

“Winchester,” Gabriel interrupts, and then throws the rag back at the PA. “I need you to be straight with me: are you or are you not in love with Cas?”

Dean considers lying. It would make everything a whole lot easier, at least, but then he remembers when he first met Cas all those months ago. Their connection flickered to life immediately, and soon enough he found a new best friend. Cas was always there to listen when Dean was frustrated with production. He was the first person Dean went to when he was having an off day, and eventually that turned into Cas venting his frustrations with Gabriel’s antics or Naomi’s iron fist control over how the show was run. The two of them soon found themselves eating dinners together behind the mansion, which turned into grabbing drinks after a day of filming, which turned into spending the holidays together when they were forbidden from leaving Rio de Janeiro for Thanksgiving. Soon enough, Dean found himself by Cas’s side any chance he got, and by the time New Year’s Eve rolled around it became clear that the only lips he wanted on his at midnight were Cas’s. It only took a week of regretting _not_ kissing Cas that Dean realized that his feelings for his best friend went way deeper than anything he felt for Benny or Jo, his final two contestants.

And so, Dean chooses not to lie. He glances away from Gabriel and whispers, “Yeah, I’m in love with Cas.”

The silence after the love confession is deafening, and Dean is grateful when Gabriel calls off the film crew for the day and tells them to go back to the hotel. He idles around while Gabriel confirms the filming schedule for tomorrow, and soon enough it is just the two of them in the room.

“Look, if this is gonna screw up everything then I’m sorry, man. We can go through with the original plan-”

“Screw the original plan, Deano! This new development is gonna be television gold!” Gabriel exclaims.

Dean blinks at Gabriel’s complete 180 in attitude. “How is this gonna be television gold? I’m gonna turn down both of my final two and leave alone! The fans will riot just like they did with Palo back in season five,” he replies, but Gabe isn’t paying attention. He’s too busy muttering to himself about flower arrangements and lighting cues.

Dean punches Gabriel on the arm and doesn’t even feel bad when he yells “ow” like a child. “Dude, I’m kinda freaking out over here! What are we gonna do?”

Gabriel grins widely at him and drapes an arm over Dean’s shoulders. “Imagine it. You turn down Benny and Jo. Everyone thinks that the show is over, that you failed in your mission to find love. They’ll think that you’ll go home to be with your giant of a brother and will adopt a cat to cope-”

“Please, get to the point,” Dean urges. The sweat from a long day is beginning to feel like a second skin and Gabriel’s impromptu drabble is getting on Dean’s nerves.

Gabe grunts inelegantly next to him and guides Dean over to the platform where he is supposed to give out the final rose. “You bachelors never appreciate me. Anyway, I believe that we can’t deny our faithful viewing audience a proposal. Therefore, they will get a proposal. Good idea, right?”

Dean must look confused, because Gabriel just pushes him away and crosses his arms over his chest. “Really? You don’t get what I’m sayin’, Deano?”

“Not exactly!” he exclaims. “If I’m not proposing to Benny or Jo, then who am I-.” He freezes when it all comes together for him. _Of course. It’s perfect._

“You are a genius,” Dean says, and Gabriel practically preens in front of him.

“Psh, of course I am! This is gonna work out perfectly, and our audience will be shocked beyond belief.” Gabriel smirks and leans back on his heels. “And there is the added bonus that Naomi will be furious about it all.”

Dean grins at that, because Naomi truly is the worst boss he’s ever had. Her need to control and contrive is beyond anything Dean could’ve imagined, and he’ll never forget the day she came down from production and chewed out one of the contestants for not laughing enough when Dean was in the room.

“Do you have a plan in mind for all of this?” Dean asks, but Gabe is already flitting around and making notes on his tablet.

“Oh, there is a plan, Deano. Don’t you worry. Everything will turn out fine.”

Dean just leans back on his heels and tries to deal with the new anxiety in his gut. It’s a good anxiety though, one that is almost comforting in a way. It’s the butterflies that he felt when he first met Cas on the set. It’s the feeling that Dean’s had every second they’ve been together over these past few months. It’s the product of late night talks, countless movie marathons, feather light touches and unspoken words. _It’s love_.

Gabriel goes on about what will be happening the day of the rose ceremony, but Dean can only focus on one thing.

_I’m gonna ask Castiel Novak to marry me._

 

 

To state that Castiel is nervous would be an understatement. He’s off the walls anxious, because everyone on set has been acting off around him all day. Is there something in his teeth? Are his pants wrinkled in an odd place? Cas can’t figure out why everyone is throwing him grins and giggles when he walks by.

He tries to push it off, because he’s got bigger things to worry about today. His best friend is going to propose to the person he’s chosen from ‘Looking for Love,’ and Cas couldn’t be happier. At least, that’s what he’s been trying to tell himself as he prepares the final rose and does his exit interviews with Benny and Jo, respectively. They film two times for both contestants, one for if they win and one for if they lose, and Cas is just thrown off again when both Benny and Jo don’t act devastated while they film their rejection takes.

 _What is going on?_ Cas thinks, but can’t focus on it when PAs are yelling in his ear and Gabriel is getting tense behind the camera.

“People! The sun is going to set in an hour and we need to get this shot perfect!” Gabriel calls out, and three PAs scramble off towards the podium where Dean is nervously twirling the final rose around. A black ring box is perched on the table in front of him, and Cas bites down the jealousy that tries to rear up when he catches sight of it.

“Cas!” Gabriel yells, and he jumps back when he finds his brother right next to him.

“What, Gabriel?” Cas asks in an annoyed tone, and it only gets him a glare from Gabe.

“I need you down by the podium, now,” Gabriel urges, and Cas just gapes back at him.

“That...that wasn’t in the script?” Cas asks, but Gabriel is already pushing him off down the trail and towards Dean.

“Change of plans. We’re ad-libbing this next part so go with the flow, bro.”

Cas would protest, but Gabe is practically yanking his arm off by now and he’s not in the mood to argue. With a sigh, Cas pushes Gabriel off and walks down the path Jo and Benny will traverse later on. Candles are lined up along the edge, and the blue sky above them is beginning to turn a light orange with the oncoming sunset. It’s perfect for a shoot, and Cas can only wonder why they’re wasting it on him.

When Cas approaches the podium, Dean looks nervous. The final rose is between his fingers and Cas just watches as he fiddles with the petals on the flower. He’s avoiding Cas’s gaze, and the light redness on his cheeks looks more from anxiousness than the heat.

“Dean? What’s wrong?” Cas asks, but Dean doesn’t respond to the question. Instead, Dean takes five deep breaths before twisting towards Cas and thrusting the rose in his direction.

“Uh,” Cas scrambles for words, but he can’t come up with any. “What is going on?” he asks.

“It’s for you,” Dean says quickly, and Cas just gapes at the rose in front of him.

“I don’t understand. Do you need a new rose?” Cas asks.

Dean thrusts the rose at Cas again, as if that will evoke a different reaction than before. “It’s for you,” Dean repeats, but it’s clipped and low in tone.

“Dean, I don’t-”

“Cas, I’m giving you the final rose, dammit!” Dean exclaims, and only then does it all come together. He was too busy trying to figure out what Dean wanted him to do that he missed him reaching over for the black box on the table. With a gasp, Cas looks down and finds Dean offering him a glittering, golden band along with the final rose.

He tries to get out words, but he’s beyond stunned. He imagined a thousand different ways this final rose ceremony could play out, but none of them included Dean proposing to _him_. It’s making Cas rethink every interaction he’s ever had with Dean, because Cas always thought that his feelings were unrequited. Dean would go on for hours about Benny, and then would talk his ear off about how amazing Jo is afterwards. Cas never could’ve predicted this outcome, and while he’s elated, he just doesn’t get what Dean sees in him, at all.

“Why?” Cas asks. “Why me?”

Dean laughs, and the look his gives Cas is filled with adoration. “Why not you, Cas? You’re my best friend. You’re the only one who will stay up with me until the early morning hours watching Star Wars marathons. When we go out for drinks, you order for me because you know my usual. I’ve been out with Benny and Jo countless times and they’ve never been able to do that. Hell, I know you better than I know the two people I was supposed to potentially marry! It’s you, Cas. It’s always been you.”

Cas is still floundering for words, and it doesn’t help when Dean gets down on one knee and presents the rose and band together.

“Castiel Novak, the only person I want to marry is you. Will you accept this rose?”

Cas is still beyond comprehension, but luckily he only needs one word to answer Dean’s question. With the biggest grin on his face imaginable, Cas says what’s he’s always hoped to say.

“Yes.”


End file.
